NewsPress conference transcript: Arne Slot on Mohamed Salah, facing Inter and more
The Reds head coach took questions from the media inside San Siro after arriving in Milan on Monday evening.
His side face the Serie A team for matchday six of the league phase on Tuesday night.
On whether he thinks Mohamed Salah was referring to him with comments last weekend about 'being thrown under the bus'...
The only one who can answer that question is Mo himself. I can guess but I don't think that's the right thing to do in this moment of time. It's hard for me to tell who he means in that situation, to be honest.
On if he has spoken to Salah...
We've let him know that he's not travelling with us [to Milan], so that was the only communication there has been there from us to him. Of course, before Saturday the two of us have spoken a lot. Sometimes longer, sometimes shorter.
On if he feels 'their relationship has broken down'...
No, that's not the way I feel. But he has the right to feel how he feels things. I haven't felt that at all until Saturday evening for sure, because I think when I didn't play him anymore, usually players don't like the manager then that much. But he was very respectful to my staff members, to his teammates and he trained really hard. So, to an extent it was a surprise to me when I heard after the game that he gave the comments he gave. But, as I said, it's not the first and not the last time that when a player doesn't play, I'm not sure if he was emotional or not, but that he says something similar to what he did. But I think our, my reaction to that is also clear and that's that he's not here with us tonight.
On whether Salah will be considered for selection on Saturday and 'what it will take to resolve the situation long term'...
We are sitting here on an evening before a big game, a big fixture for us, Inter Milan. There was only now maybe 36 hours between the moment we have conceded the 3-3 against Leeds and the moment I'm sitting here. I think you can understand as well that I've tried to prepare my team in the best possible way for the game tomorrow evening. The most thoughts that I had are about tomorrow and, in the meantime, we've decided what I've just said - not to take him with us to this game. After tomorrow we will look at the situation again.
On if he sees a scenario where Salah returns to the team...
I'm a firm believer that there's always a possibility to return for a player. So, I can leave it with that, I think.
On Salah's reaction after their conversation today...
A short one.
On what prompted him to name Salah on the bench in recent games...
I think we as a team struggled this season and already last season more and more with the game plans other teams had against us. So, I'm not only talking about the long-ball style, which is something teams mainly do against us now. I've tried to come up with solutions because that is my job, and we've tried many things. We looked very vulnerable, in my opinion, after all the things I've tried, against Forest and against PSV.
Then I decided to play with an extra midfielder in the game against West Ham, where we won the game. So I decided to do it one more time against Sunderland, where at half-time I brought him in. And against Leeds we faced a 5-3-2, where I've decided to play a 4-4-2 diamond if you want to look at it like this, with Hugo Ekitike a bit off the right side and Cody Gakpo a bit off the left, with Florian Wirtz in between. I could have played Mo as well off the right instead of Hugo, but I decided to play Hugo.
On if he thinks Salah has played his last game for Liverpool...
I have no clue, I cannot answer that question at this moment of time.
On if 'he feels his authority has been undermined'...
I don't feel my authority is undermined, is that the way you say it? It's not the way I feel it.
On if the situation 'makes his life more difficult' during a tough period...
If that was even possible. But it's not about me, if my life is difficult yes or no, that's not very important in a situation like this. It is [about] if it's more difficult for the team and for the club. And I think no-one likes us to be in the situation we are in at the moment. First of all, it's difficult to see staff members that work so hard on a daily basis affected by the situation we are in now as well, mainly because of the results, second of all about what this has done as well. That's not a good thing for us as a team, and that is where mostly my thoughts go to, not towards me. OK, because I'm the manager I have to pick a team so to a certain extent I'm important in this situation as well, but the focus that I have at the moment is completely on the team and not on me at all.
On whether he understands the frustration and why Salah 'would say such things'...
Then I should know what he exactly means with it, and that is difficult for me to know what he exactly means with it - and why he says this and who he's referring to.
On whether they've had a conversation on what 'he meant by his words'...
No. Not what he meant with those words, no. I think usually I'm calm and polite but that doesn't mean I'm weak, so if a player has these comments about so many things then it's about me, us as a club to react and we reacted in a way you can see now, that he's not here.
On whether he feels he 'could have done anything differently' to have avoided the situation...
Then I should find out exactly why he said what he said. But then I have to guess a little bit if that's not only because he doesn't play, then the answer to your question could be just play him every single time - but maybe that's not the reason why he said what he said. Maybe there is something else why he has this opinion. But that I don't know. Is it about me not playing him? Then the answer could be what could I have done differently? Playing him. Maybe that's not the reason why he thinks and feels this way - and he has every right to feel what he feels, but he doesn't have the right to share it with the media... he has that right but it's up to us to react on it.
On the last time he spoke to Salah and whether they're 'on speaking terms'...
Yes, we were. But it doesn't mean we were always agreeing on things. I spoke to him twice in the week in the two days before Leeds.
On whether he's spoken to Salah since Leeds...
No. I already said that a few times. He was on the training ground today and I told him that he didn't travel, but that's not speaking to someone, in my opinion. It is speaking to someone, but it is not having a conversation in a room. I had that twice in the lead-up towards Leeds, one a little bit longer and one a bit shorter, but I am not going to go into the details if that is going to be the next question.
On whether he spoke towards Salah as part of the group in training...
Yes. I communicated towards him that he wasn't travelling.
On the challenge of facing Inter...
That we face a very good and strong team, that has done really well this season in the league and the Champions League. They have been a big force in the Champions League for the last three seasons, twice playing the final and once going out on penalties against Atletico Madrid, which unfortunately we did last season against Paris Saint-Germain. We know we are going to face a very strong team tomorrow and that's always the biggest challenge there is in a game: it is always the team you face and individuals you face. They have a very disciplined team, a very experienced team as well and a lot of quality.
On what he sees different in Inter under Cristian Chivu compared to the team that reached the Champions League final last season...
I see more similarities than differences. Same system, I think I'm correct if I say all of them the same players, what I expect as a starting line-up, let's put it that way. Probably he did a few things he brought into the team himself, but I think the way they press high up the pitch, lower up the pitch, I see more similarities than I see differences between [Simone] Inzaghi and Chivu. But I think it's quite normal, if you take over a team that plays the Champions League final then there is every reason to keep doing what you are doing, in my opinion.
On what he thinks about Chivu...
If I think about Christian Chivu I think about the player because he played at Ajax - I even think I played against him. A very good defender but also very comfortable on the ball and I think you can see this with his team as well. His team defends really aggressive in a high press, can defend the box maybe as no other team in the world, but are also able to bring the ball out from the back. So, a lot of characteristics he had as a player I can see in his team as well.
On reports Federico Chiesa allegedly said he doesn't feel ready to return to the Italian national team yet and whether that moment is near...
It's not easy to answer. I don't think it's up to me to decide who should be selected for the national team of Italy or Holland or England. I am very happy to see Federico is in a much better place this season than he was last season; he struggled a lot last season with his fitness. This season he has been much fitter than he was last season and as a result of that he has also had more playing time than he had last season. The moments he played, he also had a few very good moments. Like I said, it's up to the Italian manager to decide if he wants to select him, yes or no, but I like him as a player and I like him as a person.
